2018 Taught Me
2018 had been filled with many happy and sad times, many ups and many downs, and filled with lessons. Oh the lessons I've learned in 2018. I battled with the decision to cut my hair all year. The length of my locs reached my buttocks and I just wasn't ready to part ways with it. I got my hair dyed in 2016 and the color caused some damage to my beautiful locs. My hair was thinning and popping off really bad. Everytime I looked around I would find half of one of my locs on the floor. I could have had them repaired with faux hair but decided not to. I had grown them organically and wanted to keep it that way. I have been growing my hair for 9 years, and my length was everything so cutting it was a no for me. One day I decided to go for it. Clipping those dreaded locs won't be so bad, I thought. The hair was dead and bringing no value and I was starting to hate the way it looked anyway. Some were really long but so many of them had popped off so when I wore my hair down it was very noticeable. So, with the help of a deep breath, I did it! I clipped off about 8-10 inches from each loc. “I thought to myself it's just hair it'll grow back.” Of course this was before I realized how much hair I had cut off. ( LoL) To my surprise I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders, literally and figuratively. It was like boulders had been removed and immediately I felt at ease. Having this feeling made me revisit some things in my life that aren't bringing me value. If i could cut off my prized hair then it should be easy to cut off any other thing that's dead in my life.
As I start this new year, I accept the fact that there are some dead entities in my life. Some that I thought were worth saving, but I now see that unlike Jesus they can't be resurrected. Some relationships, DEAD, some self beliefs, DEAD, some habits, DEAD and more importantly they won't be coming back to life. Holding onto the pieces that haven't popped off just yet won't restore anything. I must cut it off. Just like the length of my hair we choose to hold on to things especially relationships because of how long we've known or been friends with someone, but we don't realize that those relationships are dead. We feel like " I've been friends with such and such for 20 years so I can't just leave them." But when you really take inventory, although you've been "friends" with that person for so long what has come from that relationship? What value is being added to your life by befriending them? What value are you adding to them? The saying that people are in your life for a reason or a season is true. Most times we don't realize which is which though. We hold on to seasonal people thinking that because they've been around so long, it must be for a reason. When it's likely that we have just been holding on to something we should have been let go. Leave dead things in the tomb where they belong. Watching one of Sarah Jakes Roberts sermons on YouTube, something she said stuck with me. She said, “ stop kissing dead things.” We hold onto things knowing that those things are no good for us. She goes on to say that we have to do like the Mary's did in the book of Matthew chapter 28. We have to leave the tomb and the dead things there in it. If you're unfamiliar with the story, the Mary's went to the tomb where Jesus had been put after his death. When they got there the stone that had been place infront the tomb had been rolled back and Jesus was gone. An angel appeared and told them that the man they searched for wasnt there. He had been ressurrected and nolonger needed the tomb. Tombs are for the dead and because Jesus wasnt dead they would not find Him there. So I say to you leave all those dead things in the tomb and remove yourself from it.
One lesson I have learned in 2018 is that I can't hold on to lifeless things. In order to move forward and prosper I have to let go. I gotta let go of the dead relationships, let go of the dead habits, let go of the dead mentalities I have to let it all go and just do me. All 2019! So when you see me walking with my head a little higher, when you see that that glow I now have, when I say no and mean it, when I don't pick up like I used to, just know I'm not acting brand new I've just decided to walk in my purpose and let go of the dead things that were holding me bound. 2018 taught me...
